Brake for elevated-railway carriages



(No Model.)

J. N. VALLEY. BRAKE EOE ELEVATED RAILWAY GARRIAGES.

No. 456,866. Patented July 28, 1891.

WITNESSES i I m/ VEN 70H fizz ga a e a L BY 0 vwfw 6 Q A TTOHNE VS 1NcRms PETEVIFY cof. PHOTO-Llfna, WASHXNGYOP- o, c.

UNITED STATES- PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN N. VALLEY, OF JERSEY OIIY, NEW JERSEY.

BRAKE FOR ELEVATED-RAILWAY CARRIAGES.

SPECIFICATICN forming part of Letters Patent No. 456,866, dated July 28,1891.

Application filed February 20, 1891- Serial No. 382,159 (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN N. VALLEY, of Jersey City, in the county ofHudson and State of New J ersey,have invented a new and Improved Brakefor Elevated-Railway Oar- I riages, of which the following is a full,clear,

and exact description.

The invention relates to the carriages of elevated railways having asuspended track; and the object of the invention is to provide anefficient brake for such carriages.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar letters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a carriage provided with my improvedbrake. Fig. 2 is an end view thereof. Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation011 line a: a, Fig. 1; and Fig. at is a perspective view of a portion ofthe brake.

I have shown the carriage provided with two brakes, one at each side,but in practice but one brake may be employed. The carriage is of Ushape, its upwardly-extending sides passing at each side of the track10, which in practice is suitably suspended, and at the upper end thewheels B are mounted. In the form shown the carriage is formed of twoyokes A, suitably connected and braced. At the bottom of the carriagehooks D are provided for suspending a load. The carriage, however, apartfrom the brake, forms no part of the present invention, it being claimedin a separate application filedconcurrentlyherewith. The brake-shoe Eranges longitudinally at the inside of the carriage and is suspendedfrom the brake-lever E, which is fulcrumed on the brace A of thecarriage, as at e, the connection between the lever and brake-shoe beingeffected in any suitable manner. In the present instance the shoe isprovided with vertically-extending diverging arms 6 formed integrallyand bolted to the shoe, the upper end of the arms at the point ofdivergence being pivoted to the bent end 6 of the lever E. The end 6. ofthe lever is laterally offset to bring it into line with the shoe, asshown. The brake-shoe is of angular form, its horizontal member e beingadapted to bear against the under side of the track 10 and the verticalmember (2 being adapted to bear against the side of said track. On theinner side of the carriage a beveled surface a is formed, which mayconsist of separate projections formed on or secured to the carriage.With this construc-' tion as the lever E is thrown the brake-shoe willbe raised to bring its horizontal member 6 against the under side of thetrack, and in rising the beveled projections a will cause it to movelaterally, throwing the vertical member 6 against the side of the track.At the ends the horizontal member of the brake-shoe is bent downwardly,as at e, and the vertical member bent laterally, as at 6, whereby thebrake-shoe will be prevented from displace- 'ment.

The above-described brake, it will be seen,

is of simple and durable construction and may be operated conveniently,the brake-lever being in convenient reach of the attendants, and owingto the large bearing-surface obtained the carriage can be convenientlycontrolled.

In mountainous regions, where steep grades are frequent, the merebraking of the wheels would not always be effective, as with a heavyload the wheels would slip on the track, especially in wet weather. Thetrack-brake working against the under side of the track can be made tocompletely control the carriage, as it may be made almost the wholelength of the latter, and the leverage exerted I on the brake also tendsto exert a downward pressure of the wheels against the track, thusgripping the track between two opposed surfaces.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

l. The combination, with a carriage, of a brake-shoe held thereto andmovable in the vertical plane, and a lever connected with saidbrake-shoe and with the carriage, the said lever when thrown tending toexert a downward pressure on the wheels and an upward pressure on thebrake-shoe for gripping the track between the same, substantially asdescribed.

2. The combination, with a carriage, of a brake-lever pivoted thereto, abrake-shoe held to said lever below the wheels and forming a spacebetween itself and the Wheels that the brake may be embraced betweenthem, the said brake-shoe having a horizontal and a vertical brakingmember, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with a carriage, of a brake-lever, a brake-shoesuspended therefrom to range below the wheels, said shoe having ahorizontal and a vertical braking member and being movable vertically inthe direction of the Wheels, and the carriage having a beveled surfacelying in the vertical path of the brake-shoe, substantially asdescribed.

4:. The eombi11ation,Witl1 a carriage of the character described, of abrake-shoe having bent ends forming guides for preventing undue play ofthe brake-shoe, and a lever for throwing the same, substantially asdescribed.

JOHN N. VALLEY.

Witnesses: E. M. CLARK, C. SEDGWICK.

